Tom Franco Wiki, Bio, Wife, Brother, Net Worth, Acting Career, Girlfriend

Quick Facts

Tom Franco is the least famous of the Franco brothers – actors Dave Franco and James Franco. Like his brothers, Tom is also an actor, however, the middle brother is more active as an artist. He is the founder of the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley, California. Read on for some more facts about the lesser-known Franco brother.

Tom Franco Wiki/Bio/Brothers

Tom Franco was born on April 14, 1980, in Palo Alto, California, as the second son to Betsy Lou (née Verne) and Douglas Eugene Franco who was of Portuguese (Madeiran) and Swedish descent.

The Franco family is known for their affinity for arts. Franco’s mother, Betsy who is of Russian Jewish ancestry is a writer and an occasional actress who enjoys painting during her spare time.

His father who died in 2011 ran a Silicon Valley business but also enjoyed painting. “In my family, you were never cool, you never had anything good to say, unless you were talking about art,” the curly-haired Franco brother once told Diablo Magazine.

However, the Francos history of arts dates even further back. His grandparents ran the Verne Gallery in Cleveland. The Gallery which in 2015 hosted Tom and James exhibition “A California Childhood,” is now run by their uncle.

Like his brother, Tom was raised in Palo Alto, California where he attended Palo Alto High School, graduating in 1998. Tom’s love for painting began when he was a teenager when he would often paint alongside James. At 15, he and James began taking figure-drawing classes at their local art center. They were the youngest in the class.

“We were the youngest people in the class, looking at naked figures and drawing them and just being like… ‘This is weird,’” Tom told in a 2017 interview. As the brothers grew older, Tom gravitated more towards painting choosing ceramic sculpture as his niche.

He attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating in 2002 with a degree in fine arts. Tom then proceeded to study for a masters degree in ceramics at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California. However, he never made it to graduation as boredom with the method of tutoring forced him to drop out. Shortly after, Franco collaborated with a group of his coursemates to found Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley, California.

Additionally, Tom sits on the board of brother James’ Elysium Bandini Studios, a philanthropic film studio, and streaming platform.

Tom Franco Acting Career

Like his mother Betsy, Tom Franco is an occasional actor. His professional acting carer began in 1990 when he made his debut in the comedy horror film Basket Case 2 (1990). His other films include A Peace of History (2005) and The Devil Wears a Toupee (2007).

He has made cameo appearances in his brother James’ films including; Spring Breakers and Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). In 2017, Tom appeared alongside his brothers James and Dave in The Disaster Artist. The film which is directed by James also casts Zac Efron, Bryan Cranston, as well as Dave’s wife Alison Brie.

Tom Franco Net Worth

The Franco brothers have indeed made a fortune from their talents as artists, perhaps the richest among them is the eldest son James Franco whose net worth is estimated to be as high as $30 million. James can receive as much as a 7-figure paycheck for a single film role.

Tom has managed to stay under the radar for so long, surfacing only in recent years. It is not clear how much his day job as a sculpture brings him, however, some sources peg his net worth at $10 million. The last brother Dave is also estimated to be worth $10 million.

Tom Franco Wife, Girlfriend

Tom was in a relationship with Julia Lazar Franco, a camera operator who died on August 25, 2014. She was 56 years old. Julia was born on November 7, 1957 in Vienna, Austria.

Though it isn’t clear when they started dating, Franco married Julia in 2014 in a hospital solarium where she was receiving treatments for liver cancer. Julia died about a month after her marriage to Franco.

She worked with Tom at his Firehouse Art Collective. In 2012, she directed the 2012 documentary Hart Crane: An Exegesis.

Tom Franco Height: 6′ 0¾” (1.85 m)

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.